Travel to Pali, the majestic
appeal of Rajasthan India on your Rajasthan Holidays. Rajasthan
travel guide provides with historical information on Pali and a
tailor-made travel information to explore Pali's unique contours and
find out why Pali Rajasthan is a special holiday destination in
India. Pali travel vacations highlights the chief attractions of
Hatundi Rata Mahabir Temple, the Ranakpur Jain Temple and the Surya
Narayan Temple in the city of Pali India.

Historical Information on Pali

¤ The Early Period

The
history of Pali can be traced back to the 10th century, when the
Chauhana ruler Raval Lakha founded his dynasty at Nadol (now called
Desuri, which is at the heart of Pali district). The Chauhanas had
founded their dynasty in Mewar in the 8th century and gradually
extended their sway to other parts of Rajputana. Raval died in about
982AD, and the next five decades were a period of turmoil in which
Pali hosted a succession of rulers. Pali became battleground for
supremacy between the Chauhanas of Rajputana, the Paramaras of Malwa
and the Chalukyas of Gujarat. Finally Pali was captured by a prince
called Anahilla, who became one of the great rulers of Pali in the
early medieval period. His chief claim to fame was that he managed to
stop even the great Mahmud of Ghazni in his tracks, who reached Pali
after sacking Somnath in Gujarat. After a brief encounter with
Anahilla, which can be said to have ended in a draw, Mahmud was forced
to alter course to get back to Ghazni.

However, after the death of Anahilla, Pali was forced to submit to
Bhimadeva I of Gujarat. However, the people of the region being a
proud race never really reconciled themselves to outside rule, and it
was Ratnapala who finally reclaimed Pali from Gujarat between 1116 and
1119AD. However, the reprieve was temporary, and for the next 80 years
the Chalukyas of Gujarat continued to wield considerable influence in
the region. The most important Pali ruler during this period was
Kelhana, who reigned from 1164 to 1193, and although he was
felicitated with many titles he too continued to recognise Chalukyan
supremacy. After the Chauhanas were defeated by the Turk Muhammad
Ghori at the second battle of Tarain, they requested the Chalukyas to
help them throw out the Turks out of Rajasthan. The Chalukyan king
Jayatsimha teamed up with Dharavarsha Paramara of Abu and his brother
Prahaladana, and faced Qutub-ud-din Aibak in a pass near Abu. However,
the Muslims won a comprehensive victory and most of the Hindu leaders
were slain or taken prisoner.

¤ The Medieval Period

However, the Muslims found Pali too remote an area to be worth
bothering about and the region reverted back to Chalukyan control. It
was however a Chauhana, Dhamdhaladeva, who administered the territory
from 1209 to 1226 on behalf of the Chalukyan Bhima II. It was during
this period that the Rathore clan was emerging as a powerful force in
western Rajasthan, and they soon replaced the Chauhans as the
pre-eminent power in the region. Siha, the founder of Rathore family
of Marwar at the time gathered support from the rich Paliwal Brahmins
of Pali by acting against the Balecha Chauhanas. The Chauhanas were
feudatories of the Jalore rulers who were the local jagidars (land
owning nobles) and extremely unpopular due to their inability to
protect their subjects against the repeated attacks of the Mina tribe
and because of the atrocities they themselves committed. It is
presumed that the Paliwal Brahmins paid some kind of a tribute in
exchange of the protection offered by Siha. In 1273AD Siha died and
was succeeded by his son Asthan who is credited with victory over the
Guhil chief of Khed.

Unfortunately, not much except for this is known about his reign or
the history if the Rathores during the 14th century due to the absence
of authentic records. It can only be circumstantiated that the
Rathores, surrounded by the Muslims on the south, east and north, and
the Bhattis to the west struggled to keep their territory without any
scope of expansion. It was only after the Delhi Sultanate had weakened
that Mallaninath, a powerful Rathore, was able to conquer the adjacent
tracts on both sides of the river Luni. This area was latter renamed
after him as Mallani. Later in the line of succession was Maldeo who
ruled between 1532-1562 AD, and during his reign the Rathore power
reached its zenith. He not only extended the limits of his kingdom but
also achieved a formidable position among the monarchs of Rajputana.
He is credited with building many forts in his kingdom, including the
one in Pali.

But with the coming of the Mughals Maldeos expansionist plans
in the area suffered a setback. In the reign of Chandrasen who ruled
from Jodhpur between 1562-1581AD the Mughal forces were able to annex
Jodhpur. The throne nevertheless was bestowed upon Chandrasens
brother Udai Singh who was able to recover almost all the former
possessions if his kingdom by working in close unison with the Mughal
forces and establishing matrimonial alliances with the Mughal emperor.
Udai Singhs reign was followed by that of Sur Singh (1595-1619)
in whose reign not much activity happened in or around Pali. It was
only in 1680AD that the then Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb sent his son
Prince Akbar (not to be confused with Emperor Akbar) to subdue Mewar
and Marwa. Ajit Singh was bestowed Merta (northern region of Pali) by
Aurangzeb.

¤ The Decline of Mughal Empire Reinforced Rajputs

After Aurangzebs death in 1707AD the Mughal empire began to
decline. Ajit Singh grabbed this moment to capture Jodhpur from its
Muslim Governor. But his happy days in Jodhpur were short lived and
Shah Alam, Aurangzebs son and the Mughal emperor, was able to
treacherously recapture Jodhpur. Shah Alam sent a friendly invitation
to Ajit Singh and as soon as Ajit Singh left Jodhpur forces sent by
Shah Alam took over the capital. By 1708 Ajit Singh realised that the
Mughals had stayed on in the region far too long. To further this
bright idea he allied himself with Rana Amarsingh II of Mewar and
Maharaja Sawai Jaisingh of Amber. With three valiant Ranas on a
singular mission, there was very little that could possibly go wrong.
The Mughal vassal in Jodhpur was expelled. Inspired by this victory
the trio proceeded to annex Merta, Ajmer and Sambar.

All was well until Ajit Singh got into an argument with the Sayyid
brothers in Delhi who decided that the Rajput had gone too far. An
army was dispatched to put things in order and Ajit Singh subsequently
lost the territories he had seized. However, in the year 1720 the
Sayyid brothers were assassinated and Ajit Singh recovered Ajmer. At
this point Ajit Singhs moral was high and he felt settled enough
to introduce reforms in his area and strike coins in his name. But
Ajit Singh was just not destined to rule in peace. In 1723 he lost
Ajmer to Muhammad Shah, the Mughal emperor. If that was not bad enough
the same year he was killed by a conspiracy hatched by his two sons,
Bakhat Singh and Abhay Singh. Muhammad Shah then crowned Abhay Singh
emperor of Marwar.

The reign of Abhay Singh that lasted till his death in 1750 and that
of his successors was plagued with the continuous onslaught by the
Marathas. A regular tribute was paid to the Marathas in order to keep
peace and this depletion of the royal treasury led Abhay Singhs
cousin Bijay Singh (1753-93) who was ruling under immense pressure to
raise a mercenary army. It was with the help of this army that Bijay
Singh was able to acquire the rich province of Godwar from Rana of
Mewar. This might have improved the status of the treasury but was
could not keep the Marathas at bay, who returned in 1790 in full force
after a short respite.

¤ The Modern Period

Tension in the area reached its peak during the reign of Man Singh
(1803-43) when a bloody war was fought between Jodhpur and Jaipur over
the hand of the Mewar Princess, Krishna Kumari. The tense situation
was worsened when Amir Khan, a plunderer, entered the picture as an
arbiter between Mewar, Marwar and Jaipur. Amir Khan loyalties were
with the highest bidder and he is known in history for his unethical
dealing. His manipulation of the situation continued beyond the death
of Krishna Kumari who ended her life by consuming poison.

Man Singh, under pressure of the internal animosity, retired from the
throne to lead a life of a ascetic and the throne was passed on to his
son Chhatar Singh. By the 19th century, the British presence was being
felt in the region. In 1818 Chhatar Singh concluded a treaty with the
British under which a tribute was to be paid to the latter in return
of protection provided to the state. Under this treaty the British
sent a army to Jodhpur in 1839 because they were uncomfortable with
the frequency of rebellions in the state. This force stayed in Jodhpur
for five months till Man Singh was able to assure the British that the
situation would stay under control.

In 1843, Man Singh died without leaving an heir. This led to
considerable confusion, and after a lot of debate the chief of
Ahmadnagar (in Gujarat) Takhat Singh was chosen by the nobles after
having received the consent of the British. Takhat Singh ruled from
1843 till 1873 and was constantly harassed by a number of revolts
including the 1857 Uprising against the British which came at a time
when the political unrest was at its peak. Takhat Singh being an
outsider faced much resistance from the nobles who were anyway
dissatisfied with the British interference in the traditional working
of politics in the area. The 1857 mutiny broke out in neighbouring Abu
and Erinpura, wherein the mutineers captured all weapons from the
European soldiers. They plundered a lot of property en route to Pali,
where they finally made for Dhola village in Pali district.

¤ The Uprising of 1857

The mutineers who had collected from Pali and adjoining areas
numbered in excess of 5,000 men and were met by troops from Jodhpur
(which remained loyal to the British) on 8th of September 1857. The
insurgents won a decisive victory leading the British to dispatch
British troops under Captain Mason, the Political Agent of Jodhpur.
The resultant battle was bloody, and as many as 2,000 men died on both
sides. The British, although equipped with nine pieces of artillery,
were defeated by a heroic charge made by the insurgents and Mason
himself died in the engagement. In order to quell the revolt the
British responded by reportedly sending 30,000 troops who invaded Awa
(in Pali district) on 20th of January 1858. The Awa chief, undaunted
by the strength of the opposing army, handed over the defence of the
Awa fort to his younger sibling Prithvi Singh. Prithvi Singh fitted
the fort with 50 pieces of artillery but could deploy no more than
5,000 men in the field. They resisted the imperialists for six whole
days but superior numbers won the day in the end and the fort was
vacated. Not content with victory the British destroyed the fort and
the palace and even temples and idols were not spared. The statue of
goddess Mahakali, for instance, was brought to Ajmer and is still kept
in the Ajmer museum.

Thus Pali finally came under the jurisdiction of the British and
Takhat Singh was rewarded in 1862 for his part in crushing the
rebellion. From then on the areas covered by the present Pali district
became part of Jodhpur state, until Indian Independence when Jodhpur
became part of state of Rajasthan and the district of Pali was carved
out.